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Belarusian Vet Services Praised in ASF Battle

BELARUS - After being criticised by the head of the Russian veterinary service recently, counterparts in Belarus have received praise for their professionalism from OIE in Eastern Europe.

The professional standards of Belarusian veterinary specialists are on par with those of the best European specialists, news agency, BelTA, has learned from Kazimieras Lukauskas, head of the regional representation for Eastern Europe and Asia of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

Mr Lukauskas said: “It is easy for me to evaluate the experience of Belarusian veterinarians. I worked as head of the veterinary service of Lithuania for over 20 years. We worked together with Belarusian colleagues all the time. Therefore, I can say with confidence that the level of Belarusian specialists is on par with the level of the best European veterinary specialists. Belarus has all the necessary equipment for cutting-edge research.”

In his words, European experts were impressed by Belarus' efforts to counteract African swine fever.

He continued: “We will borrow Belarusian practices to spread them in other countries while our colleagues from Belarus will get recommendations in order to fight ASF even more effectively.”

Mr Lukauskas noted that OIE specialists expect the emergence of new foci of the disease in the next few years, saying: “Veterinary services have to be ready for it. Information must be made available to hunters and pig farmers.”

The permanent group of experts on fighting African swine fever in the Baltic region and Eastern Europe met in Minsk on 1 and 2 December during the global forum on fighting transboundary animal diseases. Taking part in the meeting were heads of the veterinary services of Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Mr Lukauskas explained: “Our purpose is to coordinate efforts of various countries in fighting African swine fever because it is difficult to get rid of the disease in one country if other countries experience the problem.”

He added that the next similar meeting had been scheduled to take place in the Baltic region in late February 2015, saying: “During the meeting, we will evaluate the accomplishments secured after the meeting in Minsk.”